Weather

New Zealand's climate is almost subtropical in the north but temperate and cool further south.

The warmest months are January and February, the coldest July and August.

Auckland has a subtropical climate (12 to 20 degrees) compared to Wellington's mild climate, not too cold in winter and not too hot in summer. The average monthly temperatures are in the range of 9 to 17 degrees centigrade. It is often sunny with more than 2000 hours per year, an average of nearly 6 hours of sunshine a day. Rainfall is usually higher in the winter months. Although there is often much winter snow on the mountains, snow is very rare in residential areas.

Most New Zealand homes do not have central heating so you will need to bring some warmer clothes to wear at home. When you pack clothes for New Zealand remember two important things. First, the weather is changeable (that is, pack a raincoat and warm outdoor clothing). Second, the lifestyle is casual.

21. Lecture 18-20

22. Plan:

23. 1. Brief history of New Zealand 

24. 2. Government

According to Māori legend, Kupe, the great Polynesian navigator came to the South Pacific around 1200 years ago. His first sight was not of the land itself but of a long white cloud that hovered above it, and so he named it Aotearoa, which in Māori means the Land of the Long White Cloud. The country was later called New Zealand.

Today New Zealand is proud of its identity as a Pacific nation, based on a partnership between Pakeha, as New Zealanders of European origin are called, and Māori. At the heart of that partnership is the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement that lives on as a national symbol for unity and understanding between cultures.

In fact, the main campus and the name Whitireia has been donated by the local tribe, Ngāti Toa. Whitireia means first light and is named after the local mountain that can be clearly seen from the campus.

Population

By world standards, New Zealand is lightly populated at 4.25 million people. Eighty percent of the people are of European ancestry - mostly from Britain, but also from Holland, Germany, the former Yugoslavia, Greece and other nations. Many Chinese and Indians have also lived in New Zealand for generations. One in seven New Zealanders is Māori. New Zealand is an English-speaking nation and part of the British Commonwealth, therefore all New Zealanders speak English, but Māori is recognised as an official language and is becoming more widely spoken.

With fresh air, a clean environment, friendly people and everything from large metropolitan areas to small rural towns, international students find New Zealand a great place to live.

Government

New Zealand is a Constitutional Monarchy under the Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth II is represented by the Governor-General who can summon or dissolve Parliament, and must give agreement (assent) to all laws (legislation). In practice, New Zealand is an independent state within the Commonwealth and is governed by Parliament. New Zealand has a mixed member proportional (MMP) Parliament of 120 seats, comprising 67 electorate representatives and 53 party list members.

 Our Government is formed from a democratically elected House of Representatives. The Government advises the Sovereign (our head of State). By convention, the Sovereign, the source of all executive legal authority in New Zealand, acts on the advice of the Government in all but the most exceptional circumstances. This system is known as a constitutional monarchy.

Our system is based on the principle that power is distributed across three branches of government — Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary. Parliament makes the law. The Executive (Ministers of the Crown also known as the Government) administers the law. The Judiciary interprets the law through the courts.